


will we die, just a little

by orphan_account



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Domestic Violence, Emotional Manipulation, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:36:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8671315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: There is a place that Credence forces himself to think of each time Mama orders him to remove his belt.

A series of Credence-centric drabbles / ficlets.





	

There is a place that Credence forces himself to think of each time Mama orders him to remove his belt: the rooftop of the Raffles Building on East 161st Street.

It isn’t exactly a pleasant place, but the less agreeable it is, the easier to conjure.

When the leather bites into his palm, he hears the sharp screech of pigeons and the frenzy of their wings, like an unruly heartbeat. When the next lash scrapes its way into the narrow length of his back, he smells the droppings of the birds, sees their white and green splotches on the concrete. When his whole body is rucked with pain so he can no longer tell which angle of his body is being lashed at, he chokes on the soot of chimneys. He can see further out now: the uneven sprawl of buildings, endless, billowing and breaking their ranks and greying out before him until he realises his fingernails have dug into the wood of the banister and the belt is lying beside him, on the floor.

Mama caresses him sometimes, after she’s finished. “I am not cruel. You must know that this is necessary.”

“It is necessary,” he repeats after her.

“Why have I named you Credence?”

“Because someday you will be proud of me.”

He breaks to pieces in her arms, and through his sobs he counts. Sure enough, Mama, precise as clockwork, pushes him away after ten seconds and tells him to wash his face and clean up.

**Author's Note:**

> saw FBAWTFT this afternoon, came home and wrote this on the spot, which is something that never happens.


End file.
